The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-14

nournfuI puzzle scarce worth the soiv-
ing,"
1t is pleasant is it not? to stand alOof
from the crowd, la Childe Harold, and
muse upon their folly thssS
was in this frame of mind when my
last evening in Toftburn arrived. l had
been in a very bad temper all day In
the morning had been entrapped into an
expedition to Toftburn glen. three miles
away with the Ridgways- We had gone
in a wagonette, with some friends OF
theirs recently come down to Toftburn.
Il had supposed the Reds would be going
when l accepted the invitation.)
In exploring the glen, Miss RidSway
talked of nothing but the fauna and
flora of the neIghborhOOd. Miss Lottie
would hnger behind the rest of the party
and look sentimental And Dr. Ridgway
got in a passion at lunch, and let the girls
have it straight, because, in taking an
enormous bite of his first sandwich, he
found to his sorrow that it had triple
share of mustard
Even the intellectual Eliza shook in her
shoes at the wrath in the vicar S red face
and streaming eyes
Returned from this unsought jaunt, |
strolled along the beach, 1t was warm
August evening. The sun had set, but
the western sea beneath which he had
dipped his burning face in hopes to cool
it, was still all crimson; the eastern sea
was cold and silver gray, flowing onward,
onward to me as l stood and watched it,
few bars of grey cloud lying above its
horizon. The sands were almost deserted.
The children and their nurses who formed
the chief beach population, were gone
away. The pier. the parade, and the
aquarium claimed all the evening world
of Toftburn.
Round me were the sand heaps, towers,
and castles which the children had reared
no busily during the day, doomed to be
obliterated by the evening tide. Seated
at the foot of the cliff, in a quiet
spot, where the cliffs ran out at either
side and cut me off from all the
world, L gave way to melancholy.
Suddenly, round the projecting cliffs to
my right, tall, slim figure in white APP
peared and strolled slowly along the sands
by the margin of the sea, looking out
over the silvery expanse of water-my
beautiful my beloved, my Ellie, who, |
feared, was never to be mine! Far out
in the shallow water l was also aware of
the prodigy, understanding to bend his
mighty soul to so childish and human a
| sport as wading and fishing with large
net for possible marine monsters
Il will not go to her, L said; Il will
leave her in peace. She does not guess
what loving eyes are watching her.
Darling, only tease you with my pres
ence. The love you did not want and
never guessed at shall not be confessed to
you-you would only be distressed. Blu
if 1 live a century l shall never live it
down. Oh, my little girl! if you could
have cared for me,-if l might even
have dared 10 tell you all you are to me!'
The slim white figure strolled along by
the margin of the evening sea-
Once she stood looking out to- the
horizon. and then traced idly with the
point of her closed sunshade ON the sand.
| The prodigy was tagging behind, absorbed
| in his net fishing, and she was waiting
| for him. all unconscious of the gaze fol-
| lowing her every movement so intensely.
Her back was to me. And now she
was bending down, tracing with more
method in the sand-tracing letters there,
| it would seem. / was too far off even
| to guess at what she was writing,
but why did a sudden thrill
run through me as L watched
that sunshade's point working so busily:
| Why did i rise, my recent resolve for
| gotten, and with heart throbbing and eyes
staring-m fact feeling like nothing but
| a great humping heart and great star
ing eye-approach silently, even stealthily.
the spot where she stood?
She had completed it, whatever it was
she had written. She was looking at it
| now. Quick! quick, a little foot was
already extended to erase it, Silently,
stealthily, still unguessed at, covered the
| few yards that were all now intervening
| between us. 1t was a name she had
| written there-a Christian name and sur
name. Whose? oh, whose? She was still
looking at them, thinking herself in per
feet solitude. And now l had reached
her l looked over her shoulder. And
the name in the sand-oh, joy! joy! JOY
it was mine!
|
Ten minutes later / am walking along
the beach with my darling on my arm,
and she knows have loved her since first
i met her, and know that she was only
shy, not cold; and that her dear heart is
given me in exchange for my own.
Twilight is falling on TOftburn sea.
The prodigy is busy out in the shadows,
oblivious of us. The lights are COM
ing out on the pier. the band is fit
fully audible. y gay crowd is pouring
on to find an evening amusement We
will not go among them, my own sweet
heart and 1. Lights and music and a
gay, chattering crowd are not for us.
who, hand in hand, have just entered
fairyland.
Slowly we stroll along the quiet sands.
At our feet breaks calm, silvery even
ing sea, with soft murmur. only less
unchanging and eternal than our love-
| L. Garyey i'm Home Chimes